Netflix's ongoing investment in original movies and nontheatrical releases could ultimately reshape the motion picture industry, with global streaming arguably more economically favorable than the theatrical release model, Barclays' Kannan Venkateshwar emailed investors Monday. Simultaneously releasing films theatrically and across other windows could be a means for some companies, like Disney, to drive streaming growth, Barclays said: The market also could split into two types of cinematic releases -- big movies needing to get bigger to justify the cost of theatrical releases, and small movies that go direct to consumers via streaming services. The analyst said the line between movie and TV content is "becoming a lot more fungible," and ultimately, vertically integrated entities like Disney could benefit, though theatrical distributors will face headwinds akin to TV cord cutting.
Discovery is spending $2 billion for global PGA Tour rights across all platforms outside the U.S. starting in 2019 and running through 2030, it said Monday. It said its PGA Tour deal will include live linear rights and creation of a dedicated, PGA Tour-branded streaming service. The programmer said it will televise PGA Tour events on its various pay-TV and free-to-air channels, and on digital and short-form platforms. The company said it anticipates sublicensing the rights, plus advertising, affiliate and digital subscription revenue. The deal "really solidifies [Discovery] as a global content player," Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote investors.
Nearly 40 percent of U.S. broadband households own a streaming media player, said a Thursday Parks Associates report. Amazon’s share of the category advanced 4 percent year on year in Q1 to 28 percent, nibbling away at Google’s share (14 percent) while Roku held steady at 37 percent. Apple’s share leveled at 15 percent, and TiVo’s held at 1 percent. Analyst Kristen Hanich attributed the devices’ popularity to contemporary and friendly user interfaces, wide app support and affordability, which makes them easier to replace than a TV. Consumers ranked Roku first in several categories of usability, while Apple led in gaming and ability to buy content. Amazon’s Fire TV moved up to second place in ease of setup and approached Apple in ease of finding and buying content to watch. More than half of U.S. broadband households own a smart TV, setting up a two-lane competition for streaming eyes, as usage of gaming consoles for video has waned, said Parks.
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly asked the CEOs of Amazon and eBay for those companies' help in cracking down on video set-top boxes that fraudulently carry the FCC's logo indicating they comply with the agency's equipment authorization or boxes that don't comply with those authorization requirements. In a letter to Amazon's Jeff Bezos and eBay's Devin Wenig dated Friday, O'Rielly said the FCC doesn't have an obligation to crack down on unauthorized set-tops, but many such boxes are being used in pirating of video content. He asked that the online retailers commit to removing from their sites any devices with fraudulent FCC logos or devices that haven't been certified if the agency brings those devices to the companies' attention, with supporting evidence. He also asked the companies to give the FCC names of device manufacturers, distributors and suppliers "if the situation arises." In a response letter Friday to O'Rielly that we obtained, Amazon Vice President-Public Policy Brian Huseman said it already "strictly prohibit[s] the sale of IP-infringing and non-compliant products," and it last year became the first online retailer to ban the sale of streaming media players that promote or facilitate piracy. It said it proactively scans product listings for signs of potentially infringing products and uses a variety of automated real-time tools and human reviewers to identify inauthentic goods. It said it will remove suspected listings and at times take action against sellers' entire accounts. That work has resulted in "tens of thousands" of illicit streaming device listings being blocked, plus several criminal referrals to law enforcement. Amazon said it would "appreciate the opportunity to collaborate further with the FCC" and if any noncompliant devices are identified, "we seek to work with you to ensure they are not offered for sale." eBay didn't comment.
One week into SiriusXM’s launch of its new iOS and Android streaming apps and web player, including the debut of a Howard Stern video offering (see 1804250075 or 1804250005), the company is getting a “good initial response from customers” to the new services, Chief Financial Officer David Frear told a JPMorgan investment conference. The offering has “a limited amount of video,” said Frear. “It's a sort of way of walking into that new product feature, walk before you run,” he said Wednesday. “We would expect to enrich” the video content as “the summer goes on, as we come into the fall,” he said. On SiriusXM’s ambitions in streaming content, “we've done OK with it, but we could do much better,” said Frear. “We never had a product manager who is focused just on streaming” but do now, he said. “Broadening subscriber engagement” would be a good measure of the company’s success in streaming, he said.
Google's YouTube is relaunching its subscription streaming service, YouTube Red, as YouTube Premium, it blogged Wednesday. It said Premium, at $11.99 a month, will include more original series and movies, as well as advertising-free content. YouTube said it's putting out an ad-free version of its YouTube Music streaming service that includes downloads. YouTube Music will be available as part of a Premium subscription, or by itself at $9.99 a month.
Amazon has “quietly built a stronghold in the burgeoning direct-to-consumer market," said Michael Greeson, president, The Diffusion Group, in a Wednesday report saying Amazon Prime Channels account for more than half of all direct-to-consumer (DTC) subscriptions, including HBO, Showtime and Starz. More than half of HBO DTC subscribers used Amazon Prime Channels to buy their service, said TDG, and seven in 10 DTC Showtime or Starz subscribers went through Prime channels vs. three in 10 who used the networks’ website or app. Greeson cited reports that Apple plans to launch a new feature in its TV app that, instead of pushing interested viewers to buy and download apps from its App Store, will sell DTC apps directly to consumers, mimicking Amazon’s approach. Apple users would be able to subscribe to third-party streaming services within the TV app included on Apple TVs, iPhones and iPads, he said. In Amazon’s model, the company gets a slice of subscription revenue from DTC sales and owns the consumer relationship, while the broadcast partner shoulders the costs of hosting, streaming and customer support. “If Apple can repeat this formula,” Greeson said, “it could be successful,” as TV network DTC subscriptions are forecast to grow fourfold in the next five years. If Apple adopted a DTC model, it could have an advantage over Amazon Channels, which imposes a $119-a-year membership on Prime members before they can make a la carte purchases, he said. Apple didn't respond.
Enforcing free, fair and reciprocal trade will protect U.S. jobs and foster innovation, White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Vishal Amin said Monday. He met that day with executives from the entertainment, cable/telecom and tech industries during a roundtable on illicit streaming devices. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips were among attendees. Industry representatives joined from Apple, Netflix, Amazon, the Copyright Alliance, App Association, Disney, 21st Century Fox, NCTA, Viacom and others.
Cable accounted for all Q1 growth in U.S. broadband subscriptions, adding 910,000, while telcos collectively lost 13,000 despite "hyper-aggressive offers" from AT&T, Pivotal Research's Jeffrey Wlodarczak emailed investors Friday. "Speed matters and cable has the better mousetrap" with speeds ramping up to 1 GB and heading eventually toward 10 GB, he said: Cable has ample medium- to long-term growth opportunities in taking market share from DSL, and 5G isn't likely to be a material competitor over the next five years. The analyst said pay-TV operators, including private ones, likely lost 840,000 subscribers in Q1, for the seventh straight quarter of accelerating year-over-year declines, a trend that likely will continue in Q2. Wlodarczak said there likely were roughly 5 million virtual MVPD subscribers in the quarter.
Google joined the Streaming Video Alliance, along with AWS and Videastream, the industry group said Thursday. Members include Amazon Web Services, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Comcast, Fox, IBM and Sinclair, it said.